What Factors Alter Your Fertility?

Your tears slip silently, drenching the pillow in bitterness, busting out your anguish heart.

Difficulty in getting pregnant can be overwhelmingly confusing, frustrating, maddening, depressing, and isolating. But you are not the only one battling the challenge, there are many such couples. Approximately one in every six couples face problem in conceiving. This is approximately 3.5 million people in the UK whereas 10 to 15 percent of couples in the United States are infertile.

In India too, infertility rate or fertility problems is increasing at a fast pace. Before you get to a point, don’t get too overwhelmingly emotional or depressed as mentioned above, seek for information, do discuss things with your physician, there can certain things you can do. So, here you can help yourself with some basic information on what is infertility, what are the causes of infertility, fertility treatment and the risk factors involved. Take a look and check if anything can be sorted.

What is Infertility?

Infertility is a biological inability of an individual to contribute to conception.

Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant despite having frequent, unprotected sex for at least a year or for at least six months if the woman is of age 35 or older. If a woman keeps having miscarriages, it is also called as infertility. Infertility may have a single cause in one of the partners, or it could be the result of a combination of factors. The chances of conception vary from 1 month to 24 months. About 85% of couples will conceive naturally within a year, if they have regular unprotected sex but the chance of becoming pregnant is much lower for women over 36. 20% can conceive in one month, while 70% by six months, 85% in twelve, and 95% in twenty four month. Generally, couples start worrying by the 12 month, but in cases where it has been more than 24 months despite continuous effort to conceive then even doctors consider it as an infertility case. Apart from the mental imbalance that couples undergo worrying about infertility, they tend to affect their relationship, blaming each other.

Some studies indicate that slightly over a half, are a result of female conditions, while the rest are caused by either sperm disorders or unidentified factors.

According to The Mayo Clinic, USA:

• About 20% of cases of infertility are due to a problem in the man.
• About 40% to 50% of cases of infertility are due to a problem in the woman.
• About 30% to 40% of cases of infertility are due to problems in both the man and the woman 

Causes of Infertility in Women

Women account for 35-40 per cent of all infertility problems. The most common cause of female infertility is ovulation disorders. Problems with ovulation affect about 25% of all infertility situations. Other causes of female infertility include:

1. Endometriosis This is a condition, in which endometrial tissue (the uterine lining that sheds with each monthly period) grows outside the uterus, is one of the major causes of infertility in women.

Painful menstrual cramps, irregular or heavy bleeding and possibly, repeated miscarriages are the symptoms associated with it. Solution: Surgery to remove abnormal tissue or unblock tubes and natural infertility treatments.

2. Ovulation Problems Any condition (usually hormonal) that prevents the release of a mature egg from an ovary. Symptoms include, absent or infrequent periods and eexcessive or light bleeding.

Solution: Ovulation-stimulating drugs such as clomiphene, follicle-stimulating hormones, human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) using these drugs.

3. Poor Egg Quality Eggs that become damaged or develop chromosomal abnormalities cannot sustain a pregnancy. This problem is usually age-related – egg quality declines significantly in the late 30s and early 40s. No specific symptoms.

Solution: Egg donation or Surrogacy.

4. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients who have polycystic ovary syndrome contains many small cysts in their ovaries and have hormone imbalances due to which they do not ovulate regularly. Symptoms are irregular menstrual periods, excessive hair growth, acne and weight gain.

Solution: Ovulation-stimulating drugs such as clomiphene, follicle-stimulating hormones, and IVF.

5. Female Tube Blockages Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes prevent eggs from getting to the uterus and sperm from getting to the egg. Leading causes include pelvic inflammatory disease, sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, and previous sterilization surgery. No specific symptoms.

Solution: Laparoscopic surgery to open tubes, if possible (small area of blockage). Even vitro fertilization may be an option. Less common causes include:

• Physical problems with the uterus.
• Uterine fibroids, non-cancerous clumps of tissue and muscle on the walls of the uterus, which are associated with repeated miscarriages and ageing, since the ability for ovaries to produce eggs tends to decline with age, especially after the age of 35.

What Factors Increases Risk of Infertility in Women?

Many factors can affect a woman’s ability to conceive. These include:

• Stress
• Poor diet
• If you are a strict vegan, you must make sure your intake of fertility supplements like iron and folic acid, zinc and vitamin B12 are adequate, otherwise your fertility may be affected.
• Athletic training
• Being overweightor underweight
• Over- excercise or no excercise
• Smoking
• Excess alcohol use
• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Health problems that cause hormonal changes, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and primary ovarian insufficiency.

Causes Of Infertility Men

Male infertility account for 35-40 per cent of all fertility problems. The most common causes of male infertility are azoospermia (no sperm cells are produced) and oligospermia (few sperm cells are produced).

Sometimes, sperm cells are malformed or they die before they can reach the egg. In rare cases, infertility in men is caused by a genetic disease such as cystic fibrosis or achromosomal abnormality.

For men with low sperm count or motility issues, clinically proven supplements such as fish oil and coenzyme q10 are available that can improve sperm parameters.

1. Male Tube Blockages Any obstructions in the vas deferensor epididymis (the tubes that transport fertile sperm). Varicoceles (varicose veins) in the testicles are the most common cause of male tube blockages. Sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydiaor gonorrhoea, are also linked to tube blockage problems. No specific symptoms.

Solution: Surgery to repair the varicoceles or other obstruction.

2. Sperm Problems Low or no sperm counts, poor sperm motility (the ability to move), and abnormally-shaped sperm can all cause infertility in men. Fertility drugs may boost sperm production. Other options include artificial insemination with donor sperm and injecting sperm directly into the egg (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).
3. Sperm Allergy Fewer than 10 per cent of infertile women and men have immune reactions to sperm, which cause them to produce antibodies that kill sperm cells. In men, this is most common after a vasectomy. Diagnosis of a sperm allergy is controversial.

Solution: Sperm washing and intrauterine insemination fertility treatments. Possibly immunosuppressive drugs.  

What Factors Increases Risk of Infertility in Men?

A man’s sperm can be changed by his overall health and lifestyle. Some things that may reduce the health or number of sperms include:

• Heavy alcohol use
• Drugs
• Environmental toxins, including pesticides and lead
• Smoking cigarettes
• Health problems such as mumps, serious conditions like kidney disease, or hormone problems
• Medicines
• Radiation treatment and chemotherapy for cancer
• Age
• Mental stress

In order to know the exact cause of your infertility problem, check out my next article “Available Medical Tests For Infertility” Till then,

“Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.” There are many fertility drugs for women to increase fertility.

If you know the cause of your infertility and you have been successful in solving your problem, please share with us in the comments below, it might help our other readers too.